Backstage
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Emerald Photo
Whether an international ensemble or a group pf summer music campers, the sounds of music constantly
reverberate through Beall Hall in the music school.
Beall Hall Fills diverse music needs
The silence of the awaiting crowd is broken
when the full resonance of the string quartet fills the
concert hall.
A German-made concert organ with 2,500 pipes
reaching up to the ceiling stands behind the four
musicians, who are now playing as if they were one
finely-tuned instrument.
On another day there is a lone musician in the
hall, performing in front of a professor at a degree
recital.
And last summer, the strained notes of young,
beginning musicians struggling to play "Mary Had a
Little Lamb" could be heard in the hall.
There always seems to be some kind of music be
ing played in Beall Hall in the music school building,
whether it is international ensembles or a group of
summer music campers.
But the hall is probably best known for its
Chamber Music Series, which draws chamber music
groups from New York to Hungary.
The Concord String Quartet from Dartmouth
College is the first ensemble to perform in the series
this year, which begins Oct. 15.
The quartet drew high praise from New York
Time's music critic Harold Schonberg, who said,
"Everything was there — tone, balance, technique, a
surging line, flawless intonation. Surely this is one of
the best American string quartets."
The quality of the the 547-seat hall, however, has
B also been raved over by the musicians who perform
there, says Steve Stone, manager of the series and
assistant to the music school dean.
"It's (Beall Hall) considered by chamber musi
cians to be the best hall in its realm," Stone says.
That reputation is the result of an overhaul done
15 years ago which dramatically improved the
acoustics of the hall.
The acoustical remodeling, along with the con
cert organ, was made possible by a donation from
alumnus Robert Vinton Beall (pronounced Bell), who
attended the University in the 1890s.
The walls of the hall and stage were reshaped
and an overhead reflective canopy was installed dur
ing the remodeling, but a much more complex
system was needed for the organ.
To make the organ compatible to the hall, an ar
rangement of 12 condenser microphones, 26
loudspeakers, amplifiers and mixers, a reverberation
chamber and a sound-delay line were installed.
The organ itself, although made in a shop outside
a small village in northwest Germany, was con
structed with many materials from Oregon.
The chests and many inner parts are made of
Oregon pine and Oregon fir. Some of the cabinetry is
Oregon western red cedar. Some of the pipes are
made of Oregon Port Orford cedar. Even some of the
electronic equipment used in the shop for acoustical
analysis is from Tektronix in Beaverton.
The black keys of the organ were crafted from
North German oak which toppled into peat bogs
thousands of years ago. The buried aging makes the
wood a rich jet black.
When the Chamber Music Series begins in Oc
tober, it will be in its fifteenth year. Stone says the
series has done well because of its regular patrons.
“It's a very specific audience. There have always
been enough people attending the series to support
it," he says.
There are over 250 performances in Beall Hall
every year, including concerts for children, student
recitals, the Faculty Artist Series and the chamber
music concerts.
A calendar of these events can be picked up at
the music school.
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